16.3 Elements of Preschool Curriculum 293
ble was assembled via surveying the curricula from a number of currently existing preschools employing different methodologies both based on formal academic cognitive theories [Sch07] and more pragmatic approaches, such as: Montessori [Mon12], Waldorf [SSO3b], Brain Gym (www. braingym.org) and Core Knowledge (www.coreknowledge.org).
Type of Capability Specific Skills to be Evaluated Story Understand- ing
Understanding narrative sequence Understanding character development Dramatize a story
Predict what comes next in a story
Linguistic e@ Give simple descriptions of events Describe similarities and differences
e Describe objects and their functions
Linguistic / Spatial-|Interpreting pictures Visual
Linguistic / Social
Asking questions appropriately Answering questions appropriately Talk about own discoveries Initiate conversations
Settle disagreements
Verbally express empathy
Ask for help
Follow directions
Linguistic / Scien-
tific e@ Provide possible explanations for events or phenomena
Carefully describe observations
e Draw conclusions from observations
Table 16.1: Categories of Preschool Curriculum, Part 1
16.3.1 Preschool in the Light of Intelligence Theory
Comparing Table 16.1 to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (MI) framework briefly reviewed in Chapter 2, the high degree of harmony is obvious, and is borne out by more detailed analysis. Preschool curriculum as standardly practiced is very well attuned to MI, and naturally covers all the bases that Gardner identifies as important. And this is not at all surprising since one of Gardner’s key motivations in articulating MI theory was the pragmatics of educating humans with diverse strengths and weaknesses.
Regarding intelligence as “the ability to achieve complex goals in complex environments,” it is apparent that preschools are specifically designed to pack a large variety of different micro-
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_013209